Automobile heater



1935- w. R. BECK x-rr- AL AUTOMOBILE HEATER Filed Jan. 12, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l A T T ORNE) Jan. 29,1935. w. R. BECK ET AL 1,989,163

AUTOMOBILE HEATER Filed Jan. 12, 1935 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 29, 1935 UNlTED s'mrizs PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE marlin William R. Beck and Albert E. Beck, Willimantic, and Charles Krombie, South Coventry, Conn.

Application January 12, 1933, Serial No. 651,336 1 Claim. (Cl. 137-45) This invention relates to improvementsin auto-. sible the eflicient and satisfactory operation of mobile heaters of the hot water type, in which .hot water heaters in automobiles having engines water from the engine cooling system of an autoequipped with cooling systems of the thermomobile is circulated through a hot water heater siphon type.

located in the body of the automobile for heating The invention consists in the .novel form, com- 5 the latter. bination and arrangement of parts hereinafter The engines of certain automobiles are equipped more fully described, shown in the accompanywith cooling systems of the thermo-siphon type ing drawings and claimed. in which the difference in the temperature of the In the drawings:

141 v water within the radiator and the water jacket of Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of an autothe engine is solely relied upon for causing circumobile, partly in longitudinal section and partly lation of the water from the radiator, through the in side elevation, having a thermo-siphonic enwater jacket of the engine and back to the radigine cooling system equipped with a hot water ator. In this type of cooling system, wherein no heater in accordance with the present invention.

pump is used to forcibly and rapidly circulate the Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section 15 water, the circulation is obviously comparatively showing the detailed construction of the branch slow and non-positive, and for this reason it has water connection used in the construction of Figheretofore been impossible to satisfactorily li e 1 or dive h W Water from the utilize heaters of the hot water type in automogine c olin syst m t th hot wate eat rbiles whose engines are equipped with cooling sys- Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing 20 tems of the thermo-siphon type. The warm or the manner in which the water outlet nipple of hot water would simply flow in the path of least the engine jacket may he notched to receive the resistance from the water jacket of the engine to branch water connection as in Figures 1 and 2 the top of the radiator past the branch connection so as to effect positi n of the branch eohneeto the water heater, with very little of the warm ti n a e as p i l to the p of the W 25 water occasionally or intermittently passing to jacket at its outlet, in xi in engine lin and through the water heater in the body of the systems of the thermo-siphon type. automobile. Accordingly, the heater would not be Fi u 4 is a transv rs s ti n on n 4 f constantly heated and would therefore be very Figure 2; and

inefiicient and unsatisfactory in practical operai r 5 i a Vi w mil to i r 2 ll tion. trating a modified form of the invention wherein The primary object of the present invention is th bran h Outle may b inte rally me at to provide means for positively diverting the ret Wa r Outlet 0f e engine Water jacket dill? quired portion of warm water from the thermoing manufacturesiphon cooling system of an automobile engine Referring more in detail to the drawings, 5 86 continuously to and through a hot water heater i dicate t e body of automobile whose locatedin the body of the automobile, whereby the s 6 i quipp d wi h-a wa r o l syst m use of such hot water heater in connection with of he t erm -s ph n t pe w e e he wate the mentioned type of cooling system will be atjacket 7 0f the engine has a 1' Outlet pp .8

0 tended with efiicient and satisfactory results. connected h the p inlet 9 Of a ad at 0 More specifically, the present inve ti nby means of a hose connection 11, and wherein. templates the provision of a branch connection at he b t outlet o radiator 10 is e ted to a point between the water outlet of the engine the bottom of e -jac et 7 by a hose conwater jacket and the inlet of the radiator of a motion As is Well known, the water circuthermo-siphon engine cooling system t facilitate lates in a system of this kind in the direction 45 passage of warm water from the cooling'system indicated by the dotted arrows i Fi ure 1, and to a hot water heater located in the body ofthe h difference n h t atu e of the water automobile, which branch connection has an in Within ra ia or 10 and Wi hin n in jacket 7 take end extending to the conduit or passage is solely relied upon foncausing such circulation 59 between the engine w er jacket and the radi- .bf the water, the circulation being necessarily ator, opening in a direction opposed to the direc relatively 'slow and non positive. tion of flow of the water so as to positively divert It has heretofore been proposed to heat the the necessary portion of w rm water from the interior of the automobile body 5 by means of a cooling system in a contirii 'ous manner to and water heater 13 of any well known or preferred a through the water heater, thereby making posconstruction, suitably mounted in an elevated 55 ing the part of the 2 position within the automobile body and having water inlet and outlet connections respectively connected with the supply and return connections 12 and 11 from the bottom of radiator 10 to the jacket '1 and from the top of jacket '1 to the top of radiator 10. However, in heretofore installing such a water heater, the connections .12 and 11 were merely provided with ordinary branch outlets connected by conduits 14 and 15, respectively with the outlet and inlet of water heater 13. Due to the slow and non-positive circulation of water in the engine cooling system of this type, the warm water was found to follow the path of least resistance by flowing from the top of .water jacket '1 to radiator 10, with very little of the warm water intermittently passing to and through water heater 13 by way of pipe or conduit 15. Use oi. the water heater in connection with this type of engine cooling system has accordingly heretofore been found very unsatisfactory.

In accordance with the present invention, a branch water outlet for connection by the conduit 15 with the inlet of water heater 13 is provided in the engine cooling system between the top outlet ofjacket '1 and the top inlet 9 of radiator 10, as close to the engine 6 as possible, where the water is the warmest, said branch water outlet 16 having an intake end 17 projecting into the water passage of the cooling system and having an inlet of relatively large area directed toward and opposed to the direction of flow of the water in the cooling system, as at 18. By this means, the required portion of warm water from the engine cooling system is positively and continuously diverted therefrom into and through water heater 13 by way of branch outlet 16 and conduit 15 so that the water heater 13 will operate satisfactory and give uniform heat. 'It will of course be understood that the circulation of water for the heater 13 is effected on the thermo-siphon principle, the hot water from the jacket 7 of the engine 6 rising into and through conduit 15 to the top of heater 13, after which the water passes downwardly as it cools from the bottom of the heater 13 and then downwardly through conduit 14 back to the lower circular toy connection 12 of the engine cooling system between the bottom of radiator 10 and engine jacket '1.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the branch outlet 16 is inserted in the hose connection 11 between the top of the jacket '1 and the top of radiator 10, this form of the invention being particularly adapted for application to existing automobiles. As shown, the branch outlet connection 16 in this instance consists of a short straight nipple passing through the hose connection 11 and having an elbow-like fitting threaded upon the inner end thereof to provide the inlet end 17, the opening in the hose 11 being effectively sealed against leakage by clamphose surrounding its opening tightly between the adjacent end of the fitting 1'1 and an arcuate plate 19 on the 'outside of the hose through which the nipple of the branch connection 16 passes, a lock nut being threaded on said nipple to force the plate 13 in tight engagement with the hose 11, as at 20. The nipple of the.

branch outlet 16 projects outwardly to receive the adjacent end of the hose or conduit 15 by which the water is conducted from the branch outlet connection to the inlet of water heater 13. As before stated, the elbow-like fitting forming the inlet end 1'1 of the branch outlet connection 16 is positioned so as to extend into the passage formed by the jacket outlet nipple 18 and hose 11, and so the water heater 13 by way of connection 16 and 5 conduit 15. The desired amount of water diverted to the water heater is insured due to this arrangement of the intake end portion of the branch outlet connection and due to the fact that its inlet end opening is of relatively large diameter as 10 clearly seen in Figures 2, 4 and 5. Eiiicient operation of the heater 13 is thus insured despite the fact that the circulation of water in the engine cooling system is rather slow and induced in a non-positive manner because of the absence of any 15 positive water circulating pump in the cooling system. It is preferred to insert the branch outlet connection 16 as near as possible to the point of exit of the water from'the'top of the water jacket '1; where the water is hottest. For this pur- 20 pose, the outlet nipple 8 of the water jacket may be slotted inwardly from its outer or free end as at 21 to receive the nipple member of the connection .16 when the adjacent end of hose '1 is slipped over the nipple 8 of the water jacket after the 25 branch outlet connection 16 is applied to the adjacent end portion of hose 11.

As shown in Figure 5, the branch outlet connection 16 may be cast integrally with the engine water jacket '1 and its outlet nipple 8 during manu- 30.

facture of the engine, so that the owner of an automobile may readily equip his car with a water heater, if desired, or so that the automobile may be most efliciently equipped with aheater during production. In this form of construction, of the connection 16 may be provided extremely close to the point where the warm water passes from the jacket into the nipple 8, thereby insuring most eflicient operation of the water heater. y Plugging t the producer of the automobile may leave the installation of the water heater to the purchaser of the automobile, but the construction will provide, when placed in use, a positive means for diverting the necessary amount of warm water from the en- 45.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a simple and ei'ilcient means 60 for positively and continuously diverting a portion of the hot water from the thermo-siphon type of engine cooling system so as to insure eflicient operation of a water heater on an automobile whose engine is equipped with such type of cooling 65 system. Minor changes are contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim as new is:

In combination with an engine cooling system 70 embodying water circulatory connections including an outlet nipple for the engine jacket and a hose fitted over said nipple, a branch water outlet connection for said hose having an intake end projecting into the hose,

the intake 35 outlet end of the connection 16, 40

5 as provided adjacent 50 cast directly inte- 55 said branch water outlet further having an inlet disposed axially of said hose and opening laterally in a direction directly opposed to the direction-of flow of the water'in said hose, said branch water outlet connection comprising a nipple passing through said hose, an elbow fitting threaded on the inner end of the latter nipple and forming said intake end, and means including an areuate clamping plate on the latter nipple outside the hose for sealing the latter against leakage where said latter nipple passes through said hose, the outlet nipple of the engine water jacket being slotted inwardly from its free end to receive said latter nipple.

WILLIAM R. BECK. ALBERT E. BECK. CHARLES KROMBIE. 

